Guest Lecture/Movie on campus

The on campus lecture I decided to attend was on a movie, which documented part of a lesbian photographers life. She was from South Africa, and her work was very controversial in this country. I found the work very eye opening as through the lens of the camera she touched on a very controversial issue that many people are outspoken about in this country. She photographed different lesbian women in the community whether it be couples or single lesbian women. One of the stories that touched me was a couple that had been living in a refugee camp and had met each other. One of the women was quite a bit older than the other but they found love in each other. Unfortunately they were discovered by the people living in the camp that they were a lesbian couple, and were kicked out of the camp and were forced to live under a bridge. When she took some of the original photos they had just started living at that location, and on her second visit back the couple had made different improvements to the place and it was “nicer” than what they originally had to start with. It was really hard to hear them talk about the rats that lived with them and how they were their friends, although they were making light of their current situation I couldn’t imagine living under such conditions just because you chose to love someone of the same sex. It was emotional not only for me but for the photographer woman as well to see this couple struggle and be living their life in this situation. What I did like was seeing the couple just so happy to be with each other, singing and enjoying time together no matter what type of daily struggle they were facing.

Another story that touched me was one of the women that she was shooting was talking about her dreams of having her own baby. She expressed her wish to her mother and was telling her about the struggles of paying for the invetrofertilization procedure to get pregnant and how it was going to be extremely difficult to accomplish this but she was determined to do so. The one thing that really surprised me was her mother’s statement telling her that it would be much cheaper for her just to have sex with a man and you wouldn’t have to pay to get pregnant. This was really interesting to me but not that surprising because in my opinion people who do not understand, or are not really willing to understand might have this reaction. But the woman stated that she would definitely not be doing this and tried to make light of the situation.

I found the photos very beautiful for they show light on a topic that is so hard for some people to understand. Just having a visual light on the lesbian community and to see the struggles, or triumphs they are facing can bring great awareness not only to South Africa but he world as well. I really enjoyed the documentary and hope to see her work in the United States as well.